Audio book jacket



May 4, 1965 E. s. HOLTZMAN AUDIO BOOK JACKET Filed June 14, 1963 FIGS United States Patent 3,181,894 AUDIO BODK JACKET Eugene S. Holtzman, 312 E. 80th St., New York 21, NY. Filed June 14, 1963, Ser. No. 287,893 3 Claims. (Cl. 281 31 This invention relates to combined literary and audio presentations, and more particularly concerns apparatus for providing a correlated musical supplement to a book, pamphlet, or other printed material.

In the preparation of juvenile books a primary goal is to present the information to be conveyed in an interestingly enough manner to preserve the attention of the reader. The problem of achieving this goal is amplified in the case of books designed for youngsters in the twoto-five year old range inasmuch as those in this age group are generally unable to read, and consequently, interest is usually stimulated almost entirely by the judicious use of pictures. Furthermore, if the information conveyed by such books is limited to only that which is contained in the pictures, the educational value of such a publication is obviously curtailed.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to stimulate the interest of children, particularly those of preschool age, in books and other publications.

Another object of the invention is to increase the educational value of juvenile publications.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the provision of a book jacket having a pair of cover flaps connected pivotally, as by hinged connection, to a spine member which has facilities to receive an audio device. In the embodiment of the invention described herein, which is presented by way of illustration only and not restriction or limitation, the spine member includes a cavity in the form of a step at one end thereof, and a cartridge is provided which conforms to the shape cavity. The cartridge, which houses the afore mentioned audio device, includes a fastening arrangement for detachably securing the cartridge in the cavity such that the cartridge and the spine member form an integral unit.

A principal feature of the invention resides in a book jacket arrangement which comprises as an integral part a detachable cartridge releasably containing an audio device. Consequently, as diiferent books or other publications are inserted into the book jacket, audio devices corresponding to these publications, i.e., having audio tracks which are identifiable with and supplementary to the information contained in the publications, may be substituted for the one contained in the cartridge. For example, it is contemplated that a book inserted into the jacket may be an illustrated song book, and that the audio devices individually insertable in the cartridge as different songs in the book are selected by miniature music boxes which respectively play the tunes of these songs. As another example, a series of pictorial travel books may be individually inserted into the book jacket, and for each book an associated miniature music box, constructed to play tunes characteristic of the geographical region illustrated by that book, is respectively inserted into the cartridge.

The foregoing and other objects and features of the invention will be more thoroughly understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawing of which:

FIG. 1 is an assembly view, partially in section, of a book jacket constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one of the covers of the book jacket;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the construction of the cavity in the spine of the book jacket; and

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative arrangement by which the cartridge is detachably secured to the spine to form an integral unit.

Throughout the drawing, the same elements shown in more than one view are designated by the same reference character.

With reference now directed to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, a disassembled book jacket is shown comprising as its principal elements front and rear cover flaps 1 and 2 respectively, a spine 3 having a stepped recess at one end to form a cavity 4, and a cartridge 5 having 'a shape complementary to cavity 4. Cover flaps 1 and 2 are identical to each other, each comprising a flat T-shaped plate 6 to which a U-shaped bracket 7 is afiixed to form a three sided enclosure. Projecting outwardly from the arms of brackets 7 in the vicinity of the open end of the U are pegs 3 by which cover iiaps l and 2 are hinged to spine 3. Grooves 9, which are channeled into opposing inner surfaces of brackets 7 and extend through the rounded rear edges 11 thereof, provide keyways for slsidably mounting an individual book cover retaining slat Jill in each of the cover flaps. To insert a book in the jacket it is necessary only to slide slats it} forward, place the front and rear covers of the book against cover flaps 1 and 2, and slide slats 1t rearwardly over the book covers.

As shown in FIG. 1, spine 3 includes a recessed portion 12 for receiving the rounded edges 11 of brackets 7. Recessed portion 12 comprises a trough shaped rear surface 13 which is substantially equal in length to the width of brackets '7, and is bounded at either end by side walls 14. A pair of sockets 15 are sunk in the inner faces of Walls 14 to receive pegs 8. Sockets 15 are positioned sufficiently far forward to allow cover flaps 1 and 2 to pivot freely around pegs 8 unimpeded by the corners of side walls 14. Preferably, the book jacket is fabricated of a plastic substance exhibiting a characteristic degree of resiliency which allows cover flaps 1 and 2 to be easily inserted into recess 12 of spine 3 by bending side walls is sufficiently outward to accept pegs 8 in the respective sockets 14.

As aforementioned, spine 3 includes a cavity 4 which is in the form of a stepped recess at one end thereof. The rear wall 16 of the cavity includes a small aperture 17, and a T-shaped track 18 is disposed upright on the floor of the cavity to form a pair of keyways l9. Complementary to cavity 4 is a cartridge 5 which is shaped to fit the cavity. As best seen from the sectional view of FIG. 3, cartridge 3 includes a hollow compartment 29 bounded on three sides by a continuous U-shaped wall 21 and at the bottom by a floor 22. Wall 21 continues downwardly beyond floor 22 on both sides of the cartridge 5 and terminates in inwardly projecting keys 23 which are respectively shaped to be slidingly received by keyways l9. Cartridge 5 is bounded at its front end by wall 24 but is open at the rear to expose compartment 20 when the cartridge is detached from spine 3. As shown, cartridge 5 includes an aperture 26 in side wall 21 through which protrudes a winding key 27 of an audio device 28, such as a music box of conventional construction, contained within compartment 20. Advantageousiy, key 27 is detachable from audio device 28 to permit substitution in the cartridge of one audio device for an other in correspondence with the printed material in the book jacket.

As best viewed from FIG. 4, a spear-shaped finger 29 projects in a rearward direction from the rear edge of floor 22. Aperture 17 in rear wall 16 of cavity 4 is positioned to receive finger 29 when the cartridge and the spine are attached, and is slightly smaller in dimension than the enlarged head of the finger. Owing to the resiliency of the material of which spine 3 is fabricated,

the enlarged head of finger 29 may be forced completely through aperture 17 to provide a releasable locking arrangement for securing the cartridge in position. It should be evident to one skilled in the art that if audio device 28 were battery operated, finger 29 and aperture 17 might be a plug and jack type arrangement which, in addition to securing the cartridge in position, could also serve to couple power from a battery disposed in spine 3 to the audio device.

Although in the preceding description the audio device in the cartridge was characterized as being a music box, it is to be understood that the invention extends equally as well to other type audio devices. For example, the spine of the book jacket may be adapted to house a miniature tape or wire mounted in feeding relation with respect to the recorder.

The arrangements and embodiments described herein are presented for purpose of illustration only, and not limitation or restriction, many other adaptations and modifications being within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for providing a correlated audio-visual presentation comprising, in combination, a book jacket having a spine member with upper and lower portions and a pair of cover flaps afiixed by hinged connection to said lower portion, a stepped recess in the upper portion of said spine member, said recess forming a cavity extending from an intermediate location in the upper portion of said spine member to an end thereof, a cartridge shape to fit said cavity, means for slidably receiving said cartridge in said cavity, means for detachably securing said cartridge in said cavity, a book disposed in said jacket, and an audio device removably contained in said cartridge, said audio device being constructed to provide sounds correlated to the information contained in said book.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means for slidably receiving said cartridge in said cavity comprise a groove-forming track disposed in said cavity and means depending from said cartridge for slidably engaging said groove.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means for detachably securing said cartridge in said cavity comprises an aperture in a surface of said spine bounding said cavity and a finger having an enlarged head afiixed to said cavity, said finger being positioned to be received by said aperture when said cartridge is slidingly received in said cavity and said aperture being slightly smaller in dimension than said enlarged head.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 428,795 5/90 Von Auw 28l--31 2,442,447 6/48 Zadig 35-355 X JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A CORRELATED AUDIO-VISUAL PRESENTATION COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A BOOK JACKET HAVING A SPINE MEMBER WITH UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS AND A PAIR OF COVER FLAPS AFFIXED BY HINGED CONNECTION TO SAID LOWER PORTION, A STEPPED RECESS IN THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID SPINE MEMBER, SAID RECESS FORMING A CAVITY EXTENDING FROM AN INTERMEDIATE LOCATION IN THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID SPINE MEMBER TO AN END THEREOF, A CARTRIDGE SHAPE TO FIT SAID CAVITY, MEANS FOR SLIDABLY RECEIVING SAID CARTRIDGE IN SAID CAVITY, MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING SAID CARTRIDGE IN SAID CAVITY, A BOOK DISPOSED IN SAID JACKET, AND AN AUDIO DEVICE REMOVABLY CONTAINED IN SAID CARTRIDGE, SAID AUDIO DEVICE BEING CONSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE SOUNDS CORRELATED TO THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN SAID BOOK. 